Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed has said BNP will criticize the interim government, but it won’t let it fail as the government is a symbol of the consensus of all parties that took part in the student-led mass uprising.
“We are making criticism of the interim government, but we are in talks sitting side by side to resolve the political issue,” he said, adding that “this is the democratic practice that we want to uphold.”
Rizvi was a book unveiling ceremony at the Jatiya Press Club auditorium in Dhaka on Saturday.
"Now we aren’t landing in jail or becoming victims of extrajudicial killings or enforced disappearance; we face repression and false cases for criticizing the government. This change has come following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” he said.
Authored by GM Rajib Hossain, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) Deputy Chief News Editor, the book titled “Droher Graffiti: Chobisher Gono-Abhutthan”, was launched, marking the Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2025.
Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, BSS Managing Director and Chief Editor Mahbub Morshed, Secretary General of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) Kader Gani Chowdhury, Jatiya Press Club (JPC) President Hasan Hafiz, Daily Amar Desh executive editor and writer Syed Abdal Ahmed, journalist Rawnaq Hasan, Deputy Secretary and 25th BCS (All Cadre) Forum President Nurul Karim Bhuiyan also spoke on the occasion, while Junan Nashit, deputy chief news editor of BSS, conducted the event.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi underscored the need for maintaining a democratic environment and establishing the people’s right to ensure free thinking and the free flow of information in the country.
"If democracy prevails, many things are possible to resolve. Even a famine can be overcome if democracy prevails in a society,” he added.
Noting that there might be scopes for counterrevolution after one successful revolution, he urged all democratic forces to stay alert so that the “fascist forces” could not take advantage of the loopholes.
Rizvi came down heavily on the Indian government and media for weighing its support for deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India with her and cohorts, saying such a role from a democratic country like India is not acceptable.
The senior BNP leader claimed that India is making evil attempts to create a narrative in favour of Sheikh Hasina and trying to defame Bangladesh in the international arena.
"What India is doing a direct attack on Bangladesh’s sovereignty. They are doing so, violating all international rules and regulations,” he said.
Referring to Friday’s incident at the residence of former minister AKM Mozammel Haque in Gazipur, he said, “An illiterate mafia mayor is now representing Hasina in Gazipur.”
About the role of the country’s leading cultural figures, poets, writers, and litterateurs in favour of Hasina, he said many legendary poets and writers favoured Hitler-Mussolini during their autocratic and fascist rule.
"In the same way, some academics, cultural figures, and intellectuals supported Sheikh Hasina’s fascist rule and created narratives in her favour,” he said.
Despite some youths and cultural personalities standing against Sheikh Hasina’s regime and raising their voices against her authoritarian rule, he said.
Noting that cultural involvement is essential for any revolution or uprising, Rizvi said artworks and graffiti played a pivotal role in the July uprising.
He underscored the need to preserve the graffiti and the true history of the July uprising through books, poems, movies, and other creative works.